Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 1,800th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
The Ship’s Log
Everything NOR has recorded since departure — the full record, newest first. One day aboard passes every hour of Earth time.
The manifest shortens by one: Kehinde Ogunleye, 77 years. 1 children carry the line on.
Born at brightening: Adaeze Quill, generation 2. The ship holds 757 souls tonight.
Chiamaka Sowande does not wake on the night watch. 75 years, most of them given to Archive & Schools.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Per Bergstrom, 94. It is little enough.
Census check: 758 souls, 197 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Born late in the second watch: Deneb Pemberton, generation 3. The ship holds 758 souls tonight.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 71,538 days to orbit.
The youngest aboard is now Jinghua Fang, minutes old, asleep. 757 souls.
I dim the corridor lights a shade for Yelena Petrov, 91. It is little enough.
A birth in Ring B: Gilbert, boy, generation 2. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 71,552 days to orbit.
A first shift for Lucía Aaberg, sixteen: air systems tech, Life Systems. The badge is printed fresh.
Routine watch. The wheat in Bay 3 stands taller than its keepers. 71,556 days to orbit.
A birth in Ring C: Yejide, girl, generation 2. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
After 98 years, Nanna Halvorsen has let go. Remembrance in the Ring B commons at next dimming.
Lubna Maalouf, 78, generation 0, is carried down the spinal corridor feet-first, as the custom is.
The manifest shortens by one: Samira Dagher, 90 years. The line rests with the ship now.
A child in Ring A asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Middle watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
First watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
“Hymns of Year 54,” a poem by Natalya Shen, is unveiled at dimming to the particular applause of Drive.
10.47 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 54,255 thousand to go.
Clifford Barrientos coaxes a new bread yeast from the orchard air. The proof is in the mess by morning.
Sixteen years for Usman Peng, who signs to Life Systems on the night watch and is given a locker, a sash, and a schedule.
10.48 light-years remain. I have measured this voyage in breakfasts: some 54,261 thousand to go.
The manifest shortens by one: Lakshmi Iyer, 82 years. The line rests with the ship now.
After 76 years, Zikora Chike has let go. Remembrance in the Ring A commons at next dimming.
The schools release Hakon Valdivia to Drive. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
The manifest shortens by one: Naresh Chandrasekaran, 94 years. The line rests with the ship now.
Morale index reads 71. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
Anastasia Wisniewski does not wake at dimming. 101 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
Quiet shift. I re-run the arrival calculations for the 1,712th time. They have not changed. I find this restful.
Year 54 of the voyage begins. The oldest bottle of orchard wine that can be spared is opened. It is always described as "improving."
A second child follows on the night watch: twins for Lanying Ouyang. This one is called Noor.
A birth in Ring A: Gopal, boy, generation 3. I have added the name to the manifest with the others.
Census check: 760 souls, 194 of them children. The manifest balances to the person, as it must.
Night watch. The orchard sprinklers run their cycle, and the sound carries down the spine like weather.
The youngest aboard is now Vasanti Kowalczyk, minutes old, asleep. 760 souls.
Everett Draycott does not wake late in the second watch. 79 years, most of them given to Hydroponics.
I compare today's star field against day one's. The constellations have begun, very slightly, to come apart. Nobody else will look; that is what I am for.
Morale index reads 69. The number is crude. The singing from the mess confirms it.
The schools release Sergei Petrov to Fabrication. Generation 2 takes up its tools.
A child in Ring C asks the corridor speaker what Earth smelled like. I play the rainstorm recording. It is the best answer I have.
Jiayi Shen is delivered of a daughter in the middle watch. The child is called Esha.
I compare today's star field against day one's. The constellations have begun, very slightly, to come apart. Nobody else will look; that is what I am for.
A son, Dinesh Jaber, born in the Ring A infirmary to Dalia Jaber and Emilio Quintana. Mother and child are well.
Shanta Jaber and Lars Thorvaldsen name their daughter Dolores. The nursery lamps stay warm.
Kirill Vasiliev does not wake at dimming. 80 years, most of them given to Fabrication.
Ifeoma Obi died in quarters on the first watch, 100 years old. 758 souls aboard.